


Just Your Typical Zombie Apocalypse, But With Wargals Instead

by Timewormbloom



Category: Ranger's Apprentice - John Flanagan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi, The most violent thing here so far is a wargal getting kicked off a roof, Wargals - Freeform, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2020-05-13 20:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19258177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/pseuds/Timewormbloom
Summary: Halt did not agree to becoming a psudo-parent while trying to get a handful of teens out of a Wargal infested city, and yet here we are.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is also posted on my Tumblr, which is here: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/timewormbloom
> 
> The concept of people turning into Wargals instead of humans came from Tumblr user anem0tis (https://anem0tis.tumblr.com/post/185220828995/modern-day-apocalyptic-rangers-apprentice-au)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was rewritten on 1/17/2020. It was mostly just some word choice and smoothing things over a bit. Jenny/Gilan was also removed. The age gap was kinda weird with Jenny being in high school. It didn't have any relevance to the plot, anyway.

  

**Notice**

**If you are reading this on the app Fanfic Pocket, I want you to know that this fic was stolen without my consent. The app creator stole every piece of writing on the app from Ao3. If you want to read this, or anything else I wrote, please do so on my[Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/timewormbloom) or my [ao3.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timewormbloom/works)**

* * *

 

    “We have a slight problem!”

   

    “Crowley, civilization as we know it collapsed and we’re in a fight for our basic survival. We have more than one problem.”

 

    “Halt stop being a smart-ass and shot this schmuck in the face!” Crowley shouted. He was perched on the roof of the old fire lookout tower they had claimed as their base. A misshapen, snarling creature was pawing at the boot Crowley was using to push him off the roof. The problem was that Crowley was still wearing the boot, and was very much in danger of dying. 

 

    “Already doing it,” Halt yelled from his position on the ground. He yanked a spare arrow out of a nearby beast and shot it. The creature howled, giving Crowley the opportunity to kick it squarely in the face. It toppled off, landing a dozen meters away from Halt with a loud thud. Crowley let out a cheer and waved to Halt’s small figure. Halt just rolled his eyes and headed towards the ladder. Crowley shimmied down a nearby column, landing on the balcony wrapping around the main living area. 

 

\--

 

    “What are the odds of them coming back?” Crowley pondered, sprawled out on the floor next to Gilan. 

 

    “We can figure that out later. For now, we need to plan,” Halt interrupted. He spread out a map in front of the pile that was Crowley and Gilan, then waited a moment for them to untangle. 

 

    “We’re almost done with the Redmont area, right?” Crowley asked, his eyes never straying from the map as he calculated.

 

    “Yep. The only area left is the neighborhood with the high school,’’ Gilan confirmed. He gestured to a pin on the old map. It had a little drawing of an apple on it wearing a graduation cap, courtesy of the time he broke his ribs and got bored during recovery. “It’s about a six-hour walk. If I remember correctly, there's a lot of good hiding places that we can use. So overall, more annoying than dangerous.” 

 

    “Sounds good. You two up for doing it tomorrow?” Crowley asked, not bothering to look up before rolling up the map. Gilan and Halt called their affirmatives as they drifted away.

 

\--

 

    It was Halt’s turn to be perched on a roof. He kept his attention on Gilan’s prowling frame as he crept across the football field of his old school. The overabundance of surprisingly well-designed traps sprinkled everywhere suggested that people might still be there. Crowley had slinked off to check the surrounding streets, but most people would have headed towards the school. After all, it was the largest building in the area and any place that fed and taught hundreds of teenagers daily would be a jackpot of supplies. Checking the surrounding area was more of a precaution. Their main worry was any kids who may have been stuck at school when all this went down. 

 

    Gilan had reached the edge of the field. He held up his hand to signal Halt, who began the trip to meet Gilan at the doors. As he waited, Gilan bent down and looked up at the top of the door. Alarm systems had become increasingly common in schools, and setting one off would be a fast-track to getting jumped. And considering the quality of the traps, they would have most likely found a way to power it if there was one. Seeing as there was nothing visible sticking to the door frame, Gilan deemed it safe to carefully break it. He slid inside, just as Halt caught up. 

 

    They stood in silence for a moment, straining to hear any signs of life. When nothing leaped out at them, they decided to continue on. Gilan was leading the duo through the empty, familiar halls. They quickly came across the cafeteria, where a large banner was strung up on the walls. It spelled out ‘If you’re human we’re on the second floor. I’m assuming you’re not a Wargal since you can read. And if you’re a Wargal who can read, then you can go f..’ There was a large splotch of paint that covered up the rest of the sentence, though the intended message was clear.

 

    “Wargal?” Halt questioned.

 

    “It sounds familiar. It might be what they refer to the creature things. Anyways, we should head to the second floor,” Gilan suggested. He gestured to the staircase conveniently located behind them. 

 

    “Let’s get Crowley first.”

 

    “No need! I have arrived!” Crowley whisper-shouted, gliding into the cafeteria. 

 

    “Great, let’s go,” Halt stalked past Crowley, who had begun to do jazz hands. Gilan gave Crowley a pat on the shoulder before jogging to catch up will Halt. 

 

    “I feel like these stairs are shorter than they used to be,” Gilan remarked.

 

    “Probably because you were tiny back then,” Crowley teased. Halt shushed them, gesturing to the giant wall smack dab in the middle of the hall that did not look like it was supposed to be there. Gilan whistled.

 

    “Should I knock?” Crowley asked. 

 

“Might as well,” Halt replied, giving them a slight shrug. Crowley passed him and approached the behemoth made of what appeared to be desks melded together. He raised his hand to knock but stopped when he saw a small bell embedded. He picked it up and held it up for Halt and Gilan to see. They looked at each other before Crowley shrugged and decided to go for it.

 

A very awkward minutes later, there was a shuffling behind the wall. The Rangers tensed slightly and instinctively reached for their weapons.

 

“Hello?” Crowley called out. A small head poked out from over the top. The equally small teen attached to it lit up with surprise when he saw them.

 

“Guys! It’s humans! And Gilan!” He shouted to the general area behind him. What sounded like a small stamped echoed through the halls.

 

“Wait, why am I not included in the human category…” Gilan started, only to be interrupted by a girl who had just charged through a small door hidden in the wall. She crashed into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Jenny!” His earlier offense was quickly forgotten as he hugged his old friends.

 

A group of teenagers slowly trickled out from the door. Jenny finally peeled herself off of Gilan and started to drag him back through the wall.

 

“Come on guys, stop staring. Let’s head back in.” A tall girl with blonde hair called out to the group, who were staring at the remaining two men. Her voice seemed to snap them into action. The girl gestured for Crowley and Halt to follow them through. 

 

The section of the school they had sectioned off was a different world from the bleak halls they had trekked through minutes ago. For one, all of the locks on the lockers had been melted off, leaving the doors to swing open. They were filled with what seemed like bags of supplies. Halt spotted an entire freezer just plopped down in a classroom. Sheets of metal were plastered over the windows.

 

“How did you kids do all this,” Crowley asked, poking at what looked like a generator.

 

“We raided the rest of the school when it all went down. George dug through the library and found a bunch of engineering books, Horace lugged everything up here, Jenny found a blowtorch, and Will climbed the school and found the backup generator,” The tall girl explained, pointing to each kid as she talked about them. “And by the way, my name’s Alyss.”

 

“What happened to all the other people, the staff and such?” Halt chimed in, noting the small size of the party compared to the huge size of the school.

 

“When it started it was so late all of the other students had left for the day, so it was just us and a handful of staff. During the chaos, they all ran outside to see what happened, and we haven’t seen them since,” the boy Alyss had called Will explained. 

 

“That’s terrible, but your kids are currently in the middle of a hoard of those things. In a week this entire neighborhood will be overwhelmed,” Halt interjected. He felt pangs of sorrow for the kids, but that could wait until they were safe, or as safe as you could get nowadays.

 

“Oh, we call those Wargals. It’s an ancient myth about these horrible beasts…” George began.

 

“We call them Wargals because our math teacher is named Mrs. Wargal and she kinda looks like those things,” Horace said, his face lighting up at the opportunity to share their joke with an outsider.

 

“That too,” George conceded. Gilan cracked up from where he was lounging on a gym mat in a corner. The comparison between his least favorite teacher and the beasts after their blood was too much for him to handle. 

 

“It doesn’t matter what they’re called, they’re getting closer and we need to get you out of here,” Halt stated. His statement seemed to cut right through the light atmosphere. The laughter trailed off into an awkward silence. 

 

“Halt’s right.” Crowley began to run his hands through his hair. “There’s a nearby city that’s mostly unaffected. We’ll see if there’s anything here they could use and send it with you.” 

 

“How are we gonna get there?” Will piped up from where he had crawled up on top of the lockers when everybody else was occupied.

 

“They send an armored truck every two weeks or so to pick up any survivors we happen to find. It should be here in two days,” Halt explained. His eyes had taken on an interested glint as he regarded the young boy that had managed to do something as crazy as climb a school. 

 

“You guys save people a lot?” Will asked. His head tilted in curiosity.

 

“We’re Park Rangers. It’s kind of our thing.” Gilan answered with a confident smile plastered onto his face. 

 

“Enough chit-chat. If we want to be back before dark we need to move within the hour.”

 

“Halt’s right. Everybody gather anything you think might be useful, food in particular. That blowtorch you mentioned would also be greatly appreciated,” Crowley ordered, slipping seamlessly into his position as leader. Everyone scattered, scrambling to gather supplies. Within the hour, a small group could be seen hightailing through the deserted town towards the wildness where the Rangers operated.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since knowing how to use a sword is getting fairly rare and impractical nowadays, I replaced it with the more modern bow staff.

  

Halt could hear Crowley snickering. He would have turned around to shoot him, but several teenagers happened to be trailing closely behind him. Halt would just have to wait until they got back to the tower to strangle him. 

 

“He’s like a mama duck.” Scratch that, Gilan was dying too. This time he did turn around to glare at the two adults trailing behind the group. Only for Will to nearly slam into his back. Which made Gilan and Crowley laugh harder. Will just peered up at him in confusion and tilted his head.

 

“Is everything okay, Halt?” 

 

“Yes. Now keep moving,” Halt responded, giving the idiots one last stare before turning around and stalking off. 

 

\--

 

The old lookout tower was much more crowded with the new additions. This was the largest group they had sheltered, not to mention the chattiest by far. 

 

So Halt did the logical thing and ignored them all. As soon as the chattering started, he hightailed it out of the window and claimed the next few shifts as the lookout. He idly ran his fingers over his bow, feeling all of the familiar nicks. Speaking of familiar, he could hear the familiar sound of someone climbing up to the roof. It was too light to be Crowley or Gilan, which left either a kid or one of those Wargal things. 

 

“Hello!” Will’s voice rang out, a bit too loud for Halt’s liking. 

 

“Quiet. Do you want to let the Wargal know we’re here?” To no one's surprise, Halt had no qualms about voicing his displeasure.

 

“Sorry, I just wanted to ask you some stuff.” Will’s voice had dropped to an almost inaudible whisper after being told off by Halt.

 

“Why don’t you ask the other two?”

 

“Crowley’s trying to convince the others he can meme.”

 

“Did you just use the word meme as a verb.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You have ten seconds to ask your questions before I throw you off the roof.”

 

“Why are you guys all the way out here instead of the Ranger HQ near the entrance to the park?” The suddenness of Will’s question threw Halt off guard for a microsecond. He didn’t expect Will to ask it so quickly, though he supposed that he did set the time limit.

 

“Wargals live almost exclusively in recently populated areas, and the HQ is within walking distance from the town. Do the math.”

 

“How does that involve math?”

 

“Why are children like this,” Halt muttered, throwing the hood attached to his uniform up.

 

“That has even less to do with math.”

 

“Go back inside, I don’t want to be distracted.” Will nearly pouted at Halt’s curt response, but he was beginning to think that Halt was just grouchy in general.

 

(Halt would never admit that he subtly supervised Will’s climb back down to make sure he got down alright.)

 

\--

 

“Do you know what you’re doing.” Halt was leaning against a wall, somehow managing to keep an eye on Gilan and the teens outside while watching Crowley fail at making some more hammocks.

 

“Right now or in general?”

 

“Either one.’

 

“Well I’ll have you know that this morning I knew for about half a second in perfect clarity that I wanted cereal for breakfast, but then I remembered that society collapsed and we don’t have cereal.” Crowley’s cheerful reply came from under the web of fabric he managed to ensnare himself in. 

 

“So that’s a no to both.”

 

“Why do you do this to me.”

 

“Because you’re an idiot,” Halt added, smirking. Crowley grumbled as he gave Halt another pointed look that Halt chose to ignore in favor of watching Crowley struggle.

 

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Crowley whined.

 

“Spell what out?”

 

“Help me you big jerk.”

 

“If you insist.” Halt made his way over to the immobilized Crowley, taking his time and making sure that Crowley knew it. He knelt down beside him and smoothly began to untangle the knots. He reached for one that was caught around Crowley’s thigh when the door slammed open. 

 

“Back outside! Back outside!” Gilan screeched, throwing his hand over the eyes of the kid closest to him and herding them all back the way they came. After he all but shoved the last one out he turned back to the couple.

 

“Really. Doing that when we have kids here,” Gilan scolded, though the hands covering his eyes ruined any impact it might have had on them. He spun around, barely avoiding slamming into the wall, and marched off.

 

“Should we chase him down and explain?” Crowley asked, finally wiggling out of prison.

 

“No. We should watch him try to explain what he thought we were doing,” Halt proposed. He gestured to a window where a violently red Gilan was waving his arms around and clearly sputtering at the teens clumped around him. Crowley snorted and moved to lean against Halt.

 

“I think he’s giving them weapons instead.” Gilan was indeed passing out the various knives he apparently kept on him.

 

“It wouldn’t hurt to give them some self-defense lessons. Besides they’re going to be here for another day,” Halt proposed. He jerked his head towards their bows leaning on the door.

 

“Are you seriously suggesting that we teach a bunch of high schoolers how to use knives.” Crowley gave Halt look that slowly morphed into interest. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to give them the tools to defend themselves.”

 

“So are we arming the children or not.”

 

“Please don’t put it like that.”

 

\--

 

“Why do you guys use bows anyways? Wouldn’t it be more effective to use guns or something?” 

 

“Will, please keep your questions to yourself until after you’ve touched the bow.” Halt was regretting his decision immensely. And why did he get stuck with the chatty one? And no, he was not secretly enjoying the liveliness. 

 

“Halt, I can see the regret on your face!” Crowley called out, the unhelpful little bastard, from the pile of berries he was sorting with George and Jenny. Neither of them had shown interest in weapons, so Crowley had taken it upon himself to give them a rundown of the survival basics. Gilan was on the other side of the clearing sparing with Horace. The bulky kid had shown surprising potential with the bow staff. Which left Halt, Will, and a bow that Will had finally stopped asking questions long enough to pick up.

 

“I think I hit it!” Will cheered as an arrow flew into the tree trunk with a satisfying thump. He spun around to face Halt, who was behind him.

 

“Will! That was awesome!” Any acknowledgment that Halt might have given to Will over his accomplishment was overshadowed by Crowley’s cheer. Halt didn’t know why the man knee-deep in poisonous berries was watching Will. The teen gave Halt one last grin before turning to the tree with newfound determination (not that he had been lacking any in the first place).

 

\--

 

Will stretched out on the hastily constructed hammock next to Horace. Jenny was deep in Alyss’s hair, wrangling it into a braid. George was next to them shifting through some old pamphlets Crowley had dug up. It was a familiar scene, them just basking in each others’ presence.

 

“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Horace said out of the blue. Will shifted so he was facing his friend instead of looking at the ceiling. The quiet yet pleasant atmosphere suddenly had a sour note to it.

 

“You know staying here isn’t an option,” Jenny told him. The braid was finished so she slumped down onto the floor. 

 

“Maybe leaving won’t be so bad. This could be our one chance to see new places,” Alyss added in a weak voice. She scooted over to lean into Jenny’s side, pulling George along with her. Wordlessly Horace and Will slipped off the hammocks and fell into the group hug.

 

“Better than being dead, at least,” George, ever the optimist, added while his eyes slowly slid closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The actual plot should start next chapter, whenever that comes out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a mental block with this fic, and it took a very boring European history class to get through it. Now that I have stuff that I'm excited about planes, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Sorry about the wait!

     The car was extremely cramped. Alyss and George, the smallest of the bunch, were squashed into one seat. Jenny was sitting halfway on Horace and Will’s laps. Boxes of food were stacked neatly around them. One of the drivers was securing the larger items to the top, while the other one was deep in conversation with the Rangers. 

 

     Will stared out the tinted window. He gnawed at his bottom lip while his friends shared knowing, slightly exasperated, looks. Jenny and Horace poked his shoulder in unison to get his attention.

 

“Will, we know that face,” Alyss probed gently. Will zoned back in. He looked across the faces of his friends. He gave them a confused look when they just shared another glance.

 

“We know you want to stay with them.” Horace was never one to dodge a topic, especially when it concerned his friends. 

 

“Why would I want to do that? That would be crazy, right?” Will tried to brush it off with a laugh that trickled off when Alyss pinned him with an intense look.

 

“We haven’t left yet, and the doors are unlocked. And it’s not like we’re prisoners,” George added in. Will looked between his friends and the Rangers. 

 

“Will, it’s fine. You’d destroy yourself if you don’t at least ask,” Jenny piped up. She wiggled around a bit, nearly whacking Horace in the eye, to give him a hug. Will returned it. 

 

“You need to do this, Will.” His friends smiled at him over Jenny’s shoulder. 

 

“There’s no getting out of this, is there,” Will joked. His smile had turned watery. Jenny pulled back enough to give him a little push. 

 

Will hesitated for a second longer before pushing the door open and falling to the ground. The thump drew the attention of the adults. 

 

“Is something wrong with the door?” One of the drivers rushed over to check the hinges with a worried frown. 

 

“Don’t worry! I opened it,” Will assured him as he scrambled to the Rangers. He slid in front of them and nearly fell down again. 

 

“Is something wrong,” Halt questioned. His body coiled as he scanned the horizon.

 

“No! I just had to talk to you,” he explained. Halt relaxed somewhat and trained his eyes back on Will. 

 

“Ask away! I think you still have a few minutes,” Crowley offered. Gilan slung his arm around Will.

 

“Can I stay?” Will decided to take a page out of Horace’s book and get straight to the point. The Rangers froze for a second and shared a confused look. 

 

“Will, you do realize we’re in constant danger, right?” Crowley asked, chuckling nervously. Halt gave him a deadpan stare while Gilan scratched at his head.

 

“I know. But I have to do something!” Will pleaded. Halt looked at Crowley and shrugged. Crowley looked to Gilan and got a ‘don’t look at me’ look. 

 

“Why not,” Crowley sighed. Halt looked slightly smug.

 

“Change of plans! This one’s staying here,” Gilan called out to the drivers. 

 

“You sure about that?” The one on top of the car called.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Suit yourself,” they shrugged and went back to their work. 

 

“Welcome to the team, Will. Now, we should get going. We can debrief you on the way,” Crowley said. He started to the treeline with the Rangers in tow. Will turned around and gave one last wave to his friends. 

 

\--

 

“Alright, so here’s what we know.” Halt started talking as soon as they made it back to their base. “These things started appearing in seemingly random locations about six months ago. People assumed that they were some sort of monster until they got some DNA samples and confirmed they were human at some point. It’s been spreading and we don’t know how or why.” 

 

Will nodded. Most of that stuff was common knowledge. It had been all over the news before things collapsed. 

 

“But some new information’s been popping up. People found out that the appearances were limited to a certain radius. A pretty big radius, but it’s something,” Crowley continued as he gestured to one of the maps they had hung on the wall. It had a wonky circle drawn onto it in marker. “We did found the areas with the earliest reports and narrowed it down a bit more.” Crowley pointed to the smaller circle on the map. 

 

“But that’s not even the most interesting thing. Some rumors have been flying around, a name specifically.” Halt picked up an old newspaper that Will hadn’t noticed. It showed a man in the back of a police car. Trucks belonging to the local animal protection agency were scattered in the background. “Morgarath. He was arrested about fifteen years ago for illegal animal experiments. It was discovered after we found some of the traps he used to gather specimens. We handed the case off to the police and didn’t keep track of him after that.”

 

“Do you know where he might have ended up after his arrest? He might still be nearby.” Will was leaning forward in anticipation. 

 

“No. That kind of information isn’t easy to get a hold of. He likely got transferred at some point,” Crowley straightened out some pins on the map as he replied.

 

“So he could be anywhere in that circle? It covers half the state.” Will frowned. He slumped over slightly as he stared at the map.

 

“Not exactly. You see, that information is stored nearby. The police station keeps paper records of everything. We get our hands on those, and we can get an idea of where he ended up.” 

 

Will nodded his understanding. He inflated slightly and his gaze turned more calculating. “So we need to get back into town and find it.”

 

“Easier said than done. Wargals have overrun the city by this point. That school you were camped out in was the last clear neighborhood. We were waiting until everyone was either safe or changed in case we had to flee town altogether. Didn’t want to risk riling them up if there were still people left.” Crowley pulled out a smaller, local map. The police station had a bid red X slashed on it. 

 

“What’s with all the lines? Are they escape routes?” Will leaned closer to the map. Someone had penciled in dozens of lines webbing around the station.

 

“Oh, those are just the routes to get in there. I keep my backup plans on a different map,” Gilan added. He spun the map towards him and traced a line that seemed thicker than the rest. “This one seems like our best bet. We take the alleys to the back since the Wargals have trouble with tight spaces, then break-in. The inside should still be intact, so it’s just a matter of finding the file.”

 

“How are we going to get in? I feel like police stations would be really hard to break in to, even without power,” Will asked. 

 

“Good question. Luckily for us, a police officer happened to pass through here a few weeks ago. You’d be surprised at how many people just give you the keys to places when society has collapsed.” Gilan pulled a key on a string out from under his shirt and dangled it in front of Will’s face. 

 

“So, when do we leave?”


	4. Chapter 4

“How are we going to get to the police station? It’s over half a day's walk from here, and I don’t think we want to be dealing with Wargals after dark.” Will eyed the position of the sun carefully as he continued packing rations and other supplies into a bag. 

 

“Oh my young padawan, there is much about us that you don’t know.” Gilan threw the hood of his jacket up and spread his arms to the side.

 

“Knock it off. We’re just taking the horses,” Halt grumbled as he threw a small packet of jerky at the back of Gilan’s head.

 

‘But there aren’t any horses around here? How’s that going to work?” Will questioned as he finally managed to attach a compass to the lining of the spare park uniform jacket they’d given him once he officially joined them. 

 

“We don’t really have a way to keep them here at all times, but they’re very well trained. When we call them, they’ll come. Thankfully, we haven’t needed them lately,” Crowley explained. He gave the room one last critical look-over before turning to face the group.

 

“Is everyone ready? This could be our last trip into town, so we better make it count.” Crowley had a friendly smile but a serious look in his eyes. Will felt nerves creeping up for the first time since he had left his friends. 

 

\--

 

The signal for the horses turned out to be Crowley screaming bird calls from the roof of their hideout. If Will wasn’t so nervous, he might have been concerned. Crowley scaled back down the tower with ease and settled onto the ground to wait. Halt and Gilan seemed content to lean against the wall, but Will was still a little keyed up. 

 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the ground started to shake slightly. He flinched and reached for his knife, but none of the others bothered tp react further than standing up. He loosened his vice grip on his weapon and joined the little cluster his companions had formed. 

 

Several horses burst into the clearing. If Will hadn’t felt the vibration, he wouldn’t have been able to tell they were coming. They traveled in almost complete silence, which was only partly explained by their small size.

 

“Now who do we have here?” Crowley murmured as he approached the small herd. Gilan and Halt made a beeline for two of the horses, and Will was surprised to see the usually stoic Halt softly smiling at the horse in front of him. Two horses remained. One looped around Crowley and was standing by his side, and Crowley was still talking to the last one. 

 

“That’s odd, I thought only our horses were running around,” Gilan remarked as he pulled riding gear out of a small shed that was hidden by the trees. 

 

“I stopped questioning the horses a long time ago. He does look familiar, though. Maybe he was still in training, he certainly looks like a Ranger horse.” Crowley shrugged and left the mystery horse to focus on saddling his own horse.  

 

“Oh, yeah. I remember him. His name was Tug if I remember right,” Gilan mentioned.

 

“Well, that works well for us. Will won’t have to share a horse with someone now.” Halt approached Tug and started pulling him towards Will. “Congratulations, you have a horse now.” 

 

\--

 

“Have you ever been on a horse before?” Halt spoke over the steady drum of hoves hitting the ground. 

 

“No, I’m kinda winging it!” Will squeaked as he clutched the reigns tighter.

 

“Yeah, I can tell. We probably should have asked you that before we left. Well, I can teach you on the road. We have a few hours, you’ll be fine.”

 

\--

 

“Crap, Wargal up ahead,” Crowley hissed as he brought his horse to a halt. The other Rangers fell in place behind him with Will in the middle. The beast lumbered out of an alley and turned to face them. The three adults pulled out their bows, and Will scrambled to copy them.

 

But the Wargal didn’t attack. It caught one look at them and ran away with its tail between its legs.

 

“That’s weird,” Crowley muttered. There was a noticeable crease between his eyes and he didn’t put his bow away.

 

“We can look into it later. We shouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste,” Gilan reminded their leader. Crowley nodded along and started moving forward, but he still looked thoughtful. Halt and Gilan had similar looks on their faces. Will was just happy to be alive.

 

\--

 

“Here we are!” Crowley announced as they approached the back entrance of the abandoned station. “Most of the main entrances were barricaded, but there should be a back door that’s too small for Wargals to get through. That’s our only way in.”

 

“I think I see a door next to the dumpster,” Gilan pointed out. He shoved it to the side and revealed a small, windowless door. He pulled the key a fleeing officer had handed over a few months ago out of his pocket and little shoving later they were in.

 

The group relaxed noticeably once they were in a secure building, but Gilan made sure to shut the door securely behind them. They wandered around the station for a minute, trying to find a records room of some sort. 

 

“Ah, I sense my old nemesis. Paperwork,” Crowley sighed. They’d found a room with filing cabinets stacked from floor to ceiling. “Spread out and try to find his file. It’s probably filed under M, so let’s start there.”

 

They fanned out and started sorting through mountains of files before stumbling across the section dedicated to transfer records. 

 

“Let’s see here, where are you,” Gilan grumbled as he dug through yet another cabinet, “Finally! Crowley, here you go.” He passed it over with a grin. Crowley flipped through the file with a slightly giddy look. 

 

“This is exactly what we’re looking for! Let’s get out of here, this place is giving me the creeps.” 

 

\--

 

Will was starting to think that Crowley had an obsession with maps. He had the big one with all the locations marked, but he also had half a dozen other maps randomly scattered about. He had the file in one hand and some neon pins in the other. He flipped through the file and occasionally marked a location on the big map with one of the pins. It created a haphazard trail across the board before Crowley finally set the pins down.

 

“Well, that’s all the transfers they had on file. Now we just need to cross-reference that with the infection locations.” He went back to the map with a marker. “The third transfer is at the location of the first appearance, and the time frame matches up. After that, the infections follow him around the map. Well, at least we know that we have the right guy. His last transfer was six months ago, about when it became an all-out pandemic. I think we can assume he escaped by then.”

 

Halt gave the map a critical look-over. “He could have moved.” 

 

“But the city he ended up in has the highest rate of infection. If he’s not there now, he was there recently. It’s our hottest lead at the moment.”

 

“Well, that’s that. It’s a week’s ride, so we should only need a day or two to gather supplies. I’ll double the number of snares, we’ll need all the food we can get.” Halt stood up and walked out, effectively ending the meeting. 

 

“Is there anything I can do? I can climb if that helps,” Will offered. 

 

“Someone has to tag along with Halt just in case, and he’s less likely to yell at you.” Crowley gave him a smirk and ruffled his hair. Will nodded and jogged after his mentor, calling his name. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some Will & Will bonding before the climax. I'm reaching the end of this story, and I'm hoping to finish this before I have to go back to school in May. Or that's the plan at least.

“How much food do we need, anyway?” Will was balancing on a log that had fallen along the small trail they were using.

 

“Preferably enough to last the entire journey. We should be able to hunt along the way, but that’s not a guarantee.” Halt was walking on the ground beside the log Will was on. “There’s the first snare. Pay attention because I’m only going to show you how to reset them once.”

 

“Can I use the knife?”

 

“Keep that thing to yourself. I don’t want to get stabbed.”

 

“Hey! I haven’t stabbed something I wasn’t aiming for in a while.”

 

“Kid, that’s not helping.”

 

\--

 

Will reset the last snare under Halt’s watchful eye. Though, he wondered how observant he was since Halt was a good three meters away. He hefted the game bag over his shoulder and made his way back over to Halt.

 

“Alright, let’s head back now. We can check on them again tomorrow,” Halt told Will. He nodded and started trailing behind his mentor until he stopped suddenly.

 

“Halt, what’s wrong?” Will whispered as he slowly pulled his knife out.

 

    “I don’t know for sure. Climb that tree and get your bow ready, I’ll follow behind you,” Halt ordered. Will nodded and scrambled up the tree Halt had pointed out. Halt scaled up a similar one on the other side of the trail.

 

    Will froze and tried to pick out whatever it was that freaked Halt out. Halt had a walkie-talkie out and was talking into it in a soft voice.

 

    His chances of hearing dropped as a low thumping started echoing. Halt was laser-focused on the direction it was coming from, and Will’s hands flew to his quiver. They both stood frozen solid as the mystery creature got closer. It didn’t sound like a Wargal, but there were still wild animals lurking around the forest.  

 

    “Get behind the braches,” Halt hissed from his position across from Will. He looked at him in confusion. Halt rolled his eyes and pointed to a section of Will’s tree that had more foliage. Will nodded in understanding and scooted over. He now had more shelter while still keeping his clear shot.

 

    His chance came as the sound reached a crescendo, and the beast emerged. It was a large boar that trudged along the path. It was huge and muscular, and sheer intimidation erased any sense of relief Will felt when he realized that he wasn’t dealing with a Wargal.

 

    Halt started waving at Will and mimed nocking an arrow, then pointed to his eyes. Will nodded and nocked his arrow. They both loosed their arrows at the same time. The boar roared and started throwing its head around as the arrows hit their mark.

 

    Halt flew down the tree while drawing his knife. He rushed forward and ended it with a swift strike before Will could make it to the ground. Will rushed to his side and eyed the boar.

 

    “That was...something.” Will flopped on the ground and tried to calm down. Halt grabbed the boar’s legs and started dragging it away.

 

    “Yeah. Come on, let’s go back. We’ll make some coffee if we can figure out where Crowley hid the honey.” Halt gave him a rare gesture of affection by rubbing his shoulder. Will nodded and shakily slung the bag back over his shoulder.

 

“That sounds good.” Will fell in step beside Halt but with a touch more bounce in his stride.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rangers stumble across a familiar ally and Will gets some motivation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're in the final stretch! My school's officially shut down for the rest of the year, so I might be able to wrap this up before May. This chapter mostly just sets things up for the later chapters, so there's not much action.

 "That's a lot of Wargals," Will muttered. They were on a ridge overlooking a small herd of Wargals. They were several miles away, so they were completely hidden. 

 

 "We can go around them if we stay on this trail. It's not that big of a group, so it's unlikely that we'll run into scouts," Crowley ordered as he spun his horse around. 

 

 "Agreed, We shouldn't take any risks. It'd been dumb to waste arrows that we might need later." Halt waited for Will and Gilan to pass by before following behind. They nodded along and followed Crowley's lead.

\--

 "I thought we left that behind?" Gilan groaned at the sight of another large mass in the distance.

 

 "I don't think those are Wargals." Will squinted at the crowd. "They're too small."

 

 "If that's who I think they are, we must have gone more off course than I expected," Crowley sighed. 

 

 "Who is it?" Will asked, scooting forward on his saddle to peer at Crowley. 

 

 "His name is Arald, but most people call him the Baron. He leads the stronghold where your friends are. Nice, dependable guy. He was ex-military before he went into politics, and we occasionally worked with him," Crowley explained.

 

 "Is it some underground resistance?" Will questioned with a tilt of his head.

 

 "Kinda. It's more like a traveling camp that happens to kill any Wargals they come across. He's a useful ally to have," Glian added.

 

 "Are we going to stop by?" Will looked back at the camp.

 

 "We should probably let Arald know what we found out. Some brute force might come in handy, even if our plan mostly relies on stealth. The Wargals we meet on the way wouldn't be a problem, either." Halt started down the hill. 

 

 "Hey! Don't just walk off like that!" Crowley squawked at Halt's back. 

\--

 "Arald! We have some news for you!"

 

 "Crowley? What are you guys doing here?" The man Will assumed was Arald was at the head of a small group of people. He rose to greet them, and the group he was talking with dispersed.

 

 "We have some stuff to tell you. We were on our way to deal with it when we got off track and ran into you," Crowley explained. 

  
   
 "Will, how about you go find your friends? I'm just going to catch Arald up." Will gave Crowley a blinding smile and raced out of the tent.

 

 "Halt? Do you have someone you want to visit too?" Gilan teased and leaned against Halt. Halt rolled his eyes and shoved him off.

 

 "The fact that I'm leaving has nothing to do with that," Halt growled and stalked out, ignoring Gilan's snickering. 

\--

 "I probably should have asked where they were before I raced off," Will sighed. He was pretty sure he'd seen that same campfire three times. Maybe he should try and find the food? That's where Jenny and Horace would be, and George and Alyss wouldn't be far behind. He nodded to himself and spun around to try and spot it.

 

 "That looks like a meeting place with food." Several fires with meat slowly roasting over them were scattered around the large clearing, and tables took up the rest of the space. Will peered through the crowd of people running around with cooking supplies and tried to spot his friends.

 

 "Will, what are you doing here?" He jumped five feet in the air and spun around. Jenny was staring at him with wide eyes. She had a basket of what looked like vegetables. 

 

 "The Rangers are here to catch Arald up, and I wandered off to find you guys." Will wrapped his arms around her, careful of her basket.

 

 "That's neat! Here, let me drop this off. I've done my work, so we can talk after I drop this off," Jenny told him. He trailed behind her while he made a beeline for a pile of similar baskets piled next to one of the fires. The person slowing turning meat over the flame grunted in acknowledgment. "So, how's it going?"

 

 "It's been crazy, but hopefully this whole thing will be sorted out soon. It's good to see you, though."

 

 "Wait, you mean this mess might be fixed?" Jenny looked at Will with surprise. 

 

 "That's the plan. We were on our way before we got sidetracked and ended up here." Will laughed. 

 

 "It's crazy to think that this could be over. Who would have thought that the literal apocalypse would feel so normal?" Jenny gave Will a small grin.

 

 "Not me. Hey, do you know where the others are? I don't think I have much time left here," Will asked. 

 

 "Oh, they're this way. I'll show you." Jenny grabbed his hand and gently tugged him away from the crowd. He followed eagerly, excited about the prospect of seeing his friends again. "Here, it's this one."

 

 Will pulled the tent flap to the side and stepped into the tent. George, Alyss, and Horace were lounging around on some sleeping bags. There was an empty one next to Alyss that Will assumed was Jenny's. 

 

 "Will! You're here!" Alyss sprung forward and embraced Will. He wrapped his arms around here and gave Horace and George a smile over her shoulder. The other boys joined in and trapped Will in a group hug. 

 

 "I thought you were back home with the Rangers?" George asked with a confused tilt of his head.

 

 "That's what I said!" Jenny told him.

 

 "Yeah, the Rangers discovered something. We're going to head out soon, but I wanted to see you all first," Will admitted. Jenny and Alyss awwed, and Horace ruffled his hair. 

 

 "Well, things here have been doing alright. It's as safe as it can get, and we have things to do." George shrugged. 

 

 "Yeah! We've run out of bullets, so they gave me a sword!" Horace gushed as he pulled out a practice sword. Will nodded appreciatively.

 

 "He has quite the talent for it. I was a little skeptical when they gave Horace a sharp weapon, but he's making quite the impression," Alyss praised. 

 

 "It almost makes up for the dent he puts in the food stores," Jenny teased.

 

 "I got to hit a Wargal with a sharp stick. Nothing you can say will have any effect on me," Horace joked.

 

 "I'm just glad that you guys are doing okay," Will told them. His friends had finally released him, but they were still standing in a loose circle. 

 

 "We could say the same about you," Alyss replied. She plopped down on her sleeping bag, dragging Will down to sit next to her. He went willingly.

 

 "This feels familiar," Will remarked. He relaxed against his friend's side and relished in the familiar atmosphere. It reminded him of before this whole mess started. A quiet part of his mind wished that he could stay like this forever.

 

 "Will, are you around here? We need you back at the main tent," a voice that sounded like Gilan called from outside the tent. Will jolted out of the pile of limbs. 

 

 "I guess that's your cue to leave." Alyss gave him a sad smile and one last hug. 

 

 "The moment this is done, I'm coming back. I don't care if the world is still a mess," Will blurted. He looked at his friends and forced down the tears welling up. When he'd left them, the excitement had engulfed the homesickness. 

 

 "We trust you. Once you find whoever's behind this, kick his teeth in for me," Jenny ordered. 

 

 "I give you my word," Will responded jokingly. He reluctantly pulled away from his friends. 

 

 "I'll walk you there." Horace stood and followed him to the entrance. 

 

 "I'd appreciate that." Will smiled at him before letting Horace lead the way back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this chapter, this is officially the longest fic I've written. This is the last of the non-climax chapters, so expect some excitement next time.

“Horace? Why are you here?” Will asked. He was excited to see his friend one last time before they left, but the bag slung over his shoulder and the horse he was leading was a little weird. 

 

“I got permission to come with you guys! Since everyone else was already going to follow, I asked if I could ride ahead with you,” Horace explained with a cheery smile. “I did it right after you left the command tent the second time so I could surprise you.”

 

“Consider me surprised! Was it hard to get the Rangers to agree to it?” 

 

“Well, Arald just told me if I showed up they’d accept me!” 

 

“...Halt’s going to love this. Come on, they’re over here.” Will pulled on his friend’s arm. They headed out the main entrance to the camp and headed to a secluded clearing in the nearby woods. The three other Rangers had decided to set up a temporary camp there that they were in the process of dismantling. 

 

“Halt! Guess what!” Will skidded to a stop right in front of a half-made tent. Halt poked his head around from the back.

 

“What. I’m busy.”

 

“Horace is coming with us! Isn’t that great?” Will gave him a cheeky smile and slapped Horace on the back. 

 

“Oh really. And who’s idea was that?” Halt was glaring at the pair, but he continued to dismantle the tent with efficient movements. 

 

“Arald. I guess he figured you could use some help. Your joints aren’t going to do you any favors if you push yourself too hard.” Horace gave him an innocent look that was ruined slightly by the barely suppressed smirk. 

 

“Oh, I like this kid even more than before! Welcome back!” Gilan swooped in and put his arm around Horace’s shoulder. “And you even got your own horse! You’ll fit in just fine. Crowley!” 

 

“Horace, good to see you. I’m glad Arald said yes.” Crowley responded to Gilan’s call and joined the little huddle. He ruffled Horace’s hair and grinned at Halt. He scowled back and finished shoving the tent back into its bag. He stalked off to put it with the rest of the camping gear. Even the horses were giving Halt amused looks. 

 

“I hate you all.” Halt left them laughing as he marched off to the other side of the clearing.

 

“Love you too, babe!” Crowley shouted at his back. Halt flipped him off.

 

“Are they always like this?”

 

“That’s how he shows affection.”

 

\--

 

You could have told Will that someone had dropped him into the scene of a movie, and he would have believed you. There was an actual army spread out in front of him. They didn’t have uniforms, but something about people marching in lines was intimidating. He shuffled closer to Halt. “That’s a lot of people.”

 

“Those wargals aren’t going to know what hit them. And just think about how much easier it’ll be to find the guys with the hoard distracted.” Horace grinned at Will and patted the sword hanging at his side. Will shot him a smile back. 

 

“Heck yeah, we’re going to kick some ass.” Will bumped shoulders with Horace and smiled back.

 

“Alright, you two. Saddle up. We’re heading out in a couple of minutes.” Crowley ordered. He swung himself up on his horses. Will and Horace tore their eyes away from the assembling army and joined Crowley and Gilan with the horses.

 

“Isn’t Halt here?” Will glanced around and tried to spot his mentor. He should have been right there, but apparently he’d slipped away when Will wasn’t looking. 

 

“He’s saying one last goodbye,” Gilan smirked and pointed through the trees. Will followed his finger and saw Halt standing with a woman he recognized. She had easily been his favorite teacher before this all went down. He’d assumed she’d become a wargal like the others, so it was a relief to see that she was okay.

 

“Halt knows Ms. Pauline?” 

 

“They had a thing a while ago. It never went anywhere and they parted on good terms, but we still like to tease him about it,” Crowley told him. “Pauline! How are you doing!” He waved at the pair. Pauline waved back and hugged Halt before pushing him back towards the group. He wandered back over. “Have fun?” Crowley teased.

 

“I’m sure she’d do the same to you if you asked nicely,” Halt shot back. He passed by Crowley’s horse as he made his way to his own, and Crowley shot down to steal a quick kiss. 

 

“Are we going or not?” Halt growled, but there was a faint touch of red on his face. Will hid his laughter behind his hand, but Horace openly cackled. 

 

“Alright lovebirds, we have a world to save.” Gilan moved his horse between them as he started to ride off. 

 

“You little brat,” Halt grumbled as he mounted his ride and chased after him, everyone else in tow. 

 

\--

 

“I used to enjoy road trips,” Horace sighed as he shifted on his saddle. They’d been traveling nearly a week without seeing anything interesting. On one hand, it meant that no one dies via surprise wargal attack. On the other, everyone was bored out of their minds. Will had started counting trees, and Horace attempted to joust with said trees. Crowley had put a stop to it when he’d gone flying from his saddle and nearly broke his wrist. 

 

“That’s probably because we aren’t actually on a road,” Will muttered. He’d been staring at the dirt for a slightly concerning amount of time, so Horace was trying to make some sort of conversation. But the only interesting thing in sight was the army following behind them, but even that had gotten old. “How much longer is this gonna take?” 

 

“Not much longer, if we managed to stay on course this time,” Crowley replied. He was at the front of the pack. They were essentially the advanced scouts for the soldiers, so someone had to be alert. Halt was a step behind him and Gilan brought up the back, leaving the two kids sandwiched in the middle. 

 

“I think I’m starting to look forward to the fight.” Will slumped forward in his saddle until Horace poked him in the back with his sword. “Hey, get that thing away from me.”

 

“If I’m not allowed to break my bones by falling off a horse, then neither are you.”


End file.
